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milliedxoxo 's review for:
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
by Victor Hugo
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
OH MY GOD where to start..
okay so the beginning of the book starts off a little drab for me just because of how slow paced it is and how you are placed in a hall with a bunch of people of which you don’t know who they are and I was very confused as to what was going on (but that could have just been me)
Not to mention how much of the book was just the description of settings, and we love world building but I do not need to know of every single street in Paris (I don’t know if this was just a pacing thing in the 19th century but it would kind of snap me out of the story when I got invested)
BUT then you get on to the actual plot! The plot was so GOOD.
I was glued to the book when it came to the actual story. It was so much darker than what I was expecting and I WAS expecting it to be dark. As a person who is used to the Disney version I WAS NOT EXPECTING EVERYONE TO DIE
It was interesting to see how the characters differed from other versions of themselves with Claude Frollos intensity and cruelty (but also having moments where I pity him though them moments are very short lived), Quasimodos disconnect from society in a way that makes him cruel and careless, Esmerelda seemed a lot more selfish and naive (other than when she helped Quasimodo when he was being publicly humiliated) and Phoebus being a complete dirtbag
(Clopin was definitely upgraded in the Disney version as he wasn’t as interesting in the book)
But my two favourite characters where Jehan Frollo and Gringoire! Unsurprisingly because they provided much comedic relief for such a grim story (I could read Gringoire monologue for days)
okay so the beginning of the book starts off a little drab for me just because of how slow paced it is and how you are placed in a hall with a bunch of people of which you don’t know who they are and I was very confused as to what was going on (but that could have just been me)
Not to mention how much of the book was just the description of settings, and we love world building but I do not need to know of every single street in Paris (I don’t know if this was just a pacing thing in the 19th century but it would kind of snap me out of the story when I got invested)
BUT then you get on to the actual plot! The plot was so GOOD.
I was glued to the book when it came to the actual story. It was so much darker than what I was expecting and I WAS expecting it to be dark. As a person who is used to the Disney version
It was interesting to see how the characters differed from other versions of themselves with Claude Frollos intensity and cruelty (but also having moments where I pity him though them moments are very short lived), Quasimodos disconnect from society in a way that makes him cruel and careless, Esmerelda seemed a lot more selfish and naive (other than when she helped Quasimodo when he was being publicly humiliated) and Phoebus being a complete dirtbag
(Clopin was definitely upgraded in the Disney version as he wasn’t as interesting in the book)
But my two favourite characters where Jehan Frollo and Gringoire! Unsurprisingly because they provided much comedic relief for such a grim story (I could read Gringoire monologue for days)